Holiday Inn Express & Suites Alamosa By Ihg

“Daily Facilities Fee Falls Flat with Non-Functioning Elevator and Little Housekeeping”

I booked a few months in advance. A few days before check-in, my son wanted to see pics of the room. I went to the hotels website and there was a message that the elevator would be undergoing maintenance from MAY 10 TO SEPT 30. The message also said there will be staff on-hand to assist with ba… more

I booked a few months in advance. A few days before check-in, my son wanted to see pics of the room. I went to the hotels website and there was a message that the elevator would be undergoing maintenance from MAY 10 TO SEPT 30. The message also said there will be staff on-hand to assist with baggage. Nevertheless, I checked in and there were two employees at the front desk. It was explained to me that the elevator was out. I was assigned a room on the second floor, but no one offered to assist with my bags. My wife and my two young children lugged the bags up ourselves. Upon entering the room, it smelled a bit odd, but I was glad that at least we were on the second floor and not the third floor. We also did not face the busy road, so it was a bit quieter, but when the compressor turned off, on the air conditioner, it made a loud sound, which sometimes woke us up. It seemed like every hotel we stayed at this summer had something wrong with the air conditioner, but it made the air cold and I was happy about that. I had planned to do several loads of laundry, but there is only one washer and one dryer and they are on the first floor and not having an elevator made that a bit difficult. The first night, surprisingly, we had housekeeping services, but the next two nights, we did not have any housekeeping services. I live at about sea level, so walking up and down those stairs at nearly 8,000 feet above sea level can tire you out. Alamosa looks flat, but it's very high up apparently. Things I liked about this hotel. The area seemed safe. There was a Walmart nearby and a Wendy's. When I asked for two extra blankets, they gave two real blankets to me. At the last four holiday Inns I stayed at, they either gave me a hard time, offered me only extra sheets or said they had no extra blankets. Here I was offered extra blankets without having to tell my life story about how four people staying in the same room liked different temps for sleeping. They had cookies and lemonade each night at check in. The check in process was quick. I had stayed at a few other Holiday Inns during this trip. They all provided complimentary breakfast and Alamosa's was on par with the other Holiday Inn's. The rooms also seemed clean, however, after five days of the broken elevator, no one helping with bags, the noisy air conditioner and only one day of house keeping, I was ready to move on to our next hotel. My family lugged our bags back down the stairs. At check out, no one asked how the stay was. I asked for a receipt (I always do). The first thing that stuck out to me is that the bill was almost as much as our stay in Boulder, but in Boulder we had two rooms at a Hilton Homewood Suites which also had its own kitchen. In Alamosa we only had one room. I noticed there was a "facilities fee" tacked onto each day. I asked about the fee and they said that it was to pay for food and linens. I remarked that if it was a fully functioning facility I wouldn't mind paying the fee, but with the elevator not working and the lack of housekeeping I was not too keen on paying a facilities fee for a facility that didn't seem to be running too well. They removed the fee, which saved me about $70. I might stay here again, but there are several other hotels within walking distance, I would definitely take a look at them first.

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